


Smile and grin at the change all around

by minkhollow



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Community: discworld_rpg, M/M, RP continuity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-06
Updated: 2012-07-06
Packaged: 2017-11-16 05:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before moving to Pseudopolis, Adrian goes out for dinner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smile and grin at the change all around

**Author's Note:**

> Long, long ago, on an Internet far, far away, I was part of a melodramatic, fourth-wall-breaky archivist's nightmare of an LJ RPG. But it was some of the most fun I've ever had. After I read Unseen Academicals, I got hit upside the head with this plot bunny, which assumes the game continuity has carried on since the time we all left off (mid-2004 to early 2005; the last book to really break into gameplay was, I think, Going Postal).
> 
> A brief translation of some things, so this makes sense to people who weren't there: The first POV character in this is an OC I played for a while; the game premise, such as there was one, was that PCs - Powered by Celery - became widely available; yes, this is still my OTP, nearly nine years later; Adrian did have himself a fan club; one of the major in-game plots was Lilith from Witches Abroad having a go at Ankh-Morpork, with semi-disastrous results.
> 
> I am not Sir Pterry; I'm just borrowing for a brief love letter to my senior year of high school's biggest (and best) time sink.

"Pseudopolis?"

"Pseudopollis," Imp confirms; why he's still clinging to the last bits of his accent after all this time, Morgan couldn't say - unless, of course, it boils down to 'Adrian likes it.' But she's not here to ask, tonight - she's here to keep them in dumplings and sake until she decides to close up shop, or until Gwen stops messing about and brings out some sushi, whichever comes first.

Adrian shrugs and braces his chopsticks as she sets down the first plate of dumplings. "Brazeneck's expanding, Ponder _still_ hasn't learned to delegate so it seems like my best chance at getting a professorship of my own, and - well. Hex is getting lonely."

"Lonely," Morgan says, sparing a glance away from the fry pan to her own device. The poor thing's using more apples to do slightly less work than it used to, and it'd hardly be worth the trouble if Skazz didn't keep popping by to fix it, but she can't bring herself to replace it. "Funny, I've never had mine make that complaint."

"Well, those and the Powered-by-Celerys aren't as complex as Hex is. The way I see it, if we can't pin down a bit of electricity for him we should at least give him something to talk to. It'll need a different power source, though. I'm thinking chickens."

"Chickens?"

Imp grins. "What with the democracy bit, Brazeneck's got an actuall food budget, see," he says, stabbing a dumpling with his fork (it took Adrian three years to give up trying to teach him the fine art of chopsticks). "But that's hardly going to stop your average wizard's appetite."

"Yes, especially since your average wizard would eat enough for any three normal people."

"Whose side are you on?" Adrian protests - around his second dumpling, which rather spoils the effect.

"My own," Morgan says, "and I've got the sales records to prove it. You're not whisking anyone other than my cousin away, are you?"

"No, no, only sweeping the one person off his feet. These days. I mean, there's been rumors that the Dean - our Dean - may end up running the place, but--"

Imp frowns. "The _Dean_? But what if - I mean, I _went_ there. Before. What if the next odd thing starts in Pseudopollis and he's too carried away by it to notice?"

"Well, then, that's what they'll need someone like me there for."

" _Lilith_ ," Morgan says, trying to disguise it in a cough and the act of taking the next plate of dumplings out of the fry pan. Sadly, Adrian doesn't fall for it.

"What was that, Morgan?"

"Just a frog in my throat. Or maybe a bit of _poisoned apple_."

"Shut up," Adrian says to the dumplings. "Fairy godmothering is completely different from something like..." He trails off, waving his chopstick-less hand at Imp rather than finishing the sentence.

"Don't believe I shall, Princess. I'm only saying, and I believe your dear husband is as well, that someone's going to have to be able to keep their head in a crisis - and if the next odd thing doesn't start there, you'll certainly generate one sooner or later. And I doubt you'll be able to count on your fearless leader for that."

"Exactlly," Imp says. "Skazz already said he'd rather stay here, and you don't know who else will be there."

Adrian shrugs, just as Gwen emerges from the back with a plate of sushi (she has yet to stop complaining that it's not _really_ like the sushi they used to have in Bes Pelargic, no matter how many times Morgan reminds her she can't get the same ingredients here). "You're worrying too much."

"We worry because we care," Morgan points out. "I just want my family in good hands."

***

As they're getting ready for bed, amid the chaos that is a mostly-packed bedroom - at least they don't have to worry about taking the furniture - Imp says, "There is one other thing we need to sort out."

"Oh? What's that?"

"The music box. I don't - should we leave it here, or what?"

Adrian sits down on the bed, a bit more heavily than he'd intended to. "Oh, bugger, love, I'm sorry, I should have thought of that by now. I don't _think_ we'll have any trouble if we leave it here. Ponder doesn't want it acting up any more than we do, and if we take it, we run the risk of it jarring open on the road."

"Gods know that's the llast thing we need." Imp tosses his shirt into the corner, where they've been piling dirty laundry until they can pack it, and climbs into bed himself.

"Imp... is something wrong? I mean - you _do_ want to come with me, don't you? I really shouldn't have been assuming--"

"Ade, you're being ridicullous. Of course I want to go with you. Not saying I'm not surprised you're leaving Ankh-Morpork, it's so much a part of who you are, but if I didn't want to come, you'd have known before now."

"Believe me, I'm still surprised I'm leaving." Adrian sighs, and finally climbs under the covers. "I just - didn't want you to think I was pushing you into this."

"Hardlly. If it were something I didn't want, I'd have backed out years ago. Besides, if the Dean's going to be running Brazeneck, someone there needs to be ablle to think clearly."

"Oh, so my good looks and charm have nothing to do with that anymore?"

Imp laughs. "I never said _that_."

They just lie there in silence for a while; Adrian's feeling too lazy to turn off the bedside lamp by hand, and careless half-awake magic has been known to cause explosions, so it'll have to wait. Besides, sometimes they just need a moment to enjoy each other's company.

"Ade?"

"Yeah?"

Imp turns his head to look at Adrian. "Do you think... I don't know if Hex being lonely has anything to do with it, see, but - do you think we'll ever hear from those people from the round worlld again?"

"What, my fan club? I hadn't thought of that in _ages_."

"Just because the rest of your adoring fans haven't said anything in years doesn't mean _I'm_ not still a member, llove."

Adrian laughs. "You have a point there, but... I really don't know. There's no reason to assume they're not all carrying on with - whatever it is they do, but whether we'll be able to talk to them again, I couldn't say. Why?"

Imp shrugs. "Idlle curiosity, I guess."

"Fair enough, but try not to dwell on it too much. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."


End file.
